Feed device

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for feeding a severed tree in a tree harvester and reducing the tree to chop form in which the severed tree is supported and successively guided through a debarking and debranching station and then a station that reduces the debarked tree to wood chips.

U Umted States Patent [151 3,688,821

McColl Sept. 5, 1972 [54] FEED DEVICE 2,477,922 8/1949 Emery et a1..144/208 E M d] 20 H St 2,936,)8 5/1960 Brown ..|/3 D [72] m fi f g i3,285,305 11/1966 Nicholson ..144/20s E 3,356,116 12/1967 Brundefl etal..144l309 AC 1 Flled= My 30,197" 9,394,144 7/1968 v11 ..144/3 1) 1 No l.6 C 1,295,875 3/1919 Eaglesfield 144/246 R Related 0.8. ApplicationData [62] Division of Set. NO. $72,530, Aug. 15, 1966, W W- 9 Pat 3 53345 Attomey--Bevendge & De Grand! [52] US. Cl ..144l3 D, 144/208 EABSTRACT 1 Int. Cl. A and apparatus for ng a severed tree m d 144/ g 3 atree harvester and reducing the tree to chop form in which the severedtree is supported and sueeessive1y guided through a debarking anddebranching station [56] mm cued and ther1 a station that reduces thedebarked tree to UNITED STATES PATENTS Wood m 2,374,429 4/1945 Hayes eta1 ..144I208 E 8 Chime, 26 Drawing figures SHEEI D10! 16 FON wmm

I N VEN TOR.

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BRUCE J. McC LL M'M M' ATTORNEYS FEED DEVICE This application is adivision of US. application Ser. No. 572,530 filed Aug. th, 1966 and nowU.S. Pat. No. 3,533,458.

The present invention is concerned with the production of wood chipssuitable for use as a raw material by pulp and paper mills. Inparticular, the invention concems itself with a machine by means ofwhich the operations involved in converting a living, growing tree intosuch chips can be completely mechanized and, in large part, automated.

The pulp and paper industry has come to recognize in recent years thatits current methods of conducting its forest operations introduce suchhigh and increasing costs that some way to achieve either economy orincreased efficiency in productivity must be found. To this end, anumber of attempts at mechanization have been made, mostly in thedirection of providing mechanical devices to perform one or more of theoperations which have traditionally been carried out by manual labor.These attempts cannot, it is believed, solve or in some cases, evenalleviate the problems which have heretofore been inherent in forestoperations and which remain inherent therein as long as any portion ofthe operation remains dependent upon manual labor.

A chain may be considered to extend between a forest stand and a pulpmill. The last link in this chain is the final transport by road, railor water from the forest to the pulp mill. This link is alreadyreasonably efficient.

The operations in the logging area which precede this final transport,however, such as felling, debranching, debarking, cutting to length andgathering for final transport have not been subject to any overallexamination with the view to achieving an efficient, integrated andmechanized operation which becomes independent of such interferingparameters as weather, seasons, darkness and the limited productivity ofhuman labor.

The present invention seeks to provide a machine and a system ofoperation by which, in the end result, raw material for pulp and papermanufacture can be produced by a highly efficient, completely mechanizedand largely automated operation. Stated in its simplest terms, thepresent invention contemplates a mobile factory constituted by a large,special purpose vehicle which provides a stabilized platform for atleast one wood chip producing machine and which may move through aforest area to remove trees from their stumps, process the trees toeliminate bark and branches and to convert the tree trunk to chips. Thechips are stored in a container carried by the vehicle, the containerbeing detachable from the vehicle so that when it is full it may bedeposited for further transport by conventional means and replaced by afresh empty container for the continuation of the machine function.

The many advantageous features of the invention and the ways in whichits efficient operation are ensured will become apparent from thefollowing detailed description of one embodiment which is illustrated byway of example in the accompanying drawings in which like referencenumerals denote like parts in the various views and in which:

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view, taken from the forward end of amachine embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 1 taken from the rearquarter of the machine;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation, partly cutaway, of the forward portion ofthe machine showing the location of the source of electric, hydraulicand pneumatic power for the various machine functions;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a typical wheel station and may beconsidered as being taken through section line 44 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary plan view, partly broken away, of the centerjoint about which one chassis section may be articulated relative to theother in order to provide vehicle steering;

FIG. 6 is a section view taken along line 6-6 of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a vertical section taken through a typical pivot-walk stationsuch as, for example, that indicated along section line 7-7 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a section view taken through one primary arm showing itsmounting arrangement and the mounting of the secondary arm;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view, partly broken away, of the tree graspingand shearing head carried by the free end of the secondary arm;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view, partly broken away, of the tree shearingmechanism carried by the lower end of the head illustrated in FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary view in section, along line 11-11 of FIG. 10,of a portion of the apparatus for actuating the tree shearing mechanism;

FIG. I2 sheet 10) is a perspective view showing the lower end of one ofthe tree shears, the upper end of which is shown in FIG. 10;

FIG. 13 is a schematic or diagrammatic view, in plan, showing the freeend of the primary arm and showing the relationship between the geometryof the secondary arm and the head relative to the tree receiving portionof the primary arm;

FIGS. l4, l5 and 16 are diagrammatic views showing the relationshipbetween the tree grasping mechanism and trees of different diameters;

FIG. 17 is a diagrammatic view of the tree processing mechanism showingthe relationship of the various tree processing mechanisms as the lowerend of a tree trunk is being introduced therein;

FIG. 17A is a view similar to FIG. 17 showing the relationship of thesame mechanism to the same tree towards the end of the processingoperation upon that tree;

FIG. 18 is a fragmentary plan view of a portion of the mechanism bymeans of which the secondary arm is mounted upon the primary arm;

FIG. 19 is a perspective view of the device of FIG. 18;

FIG. 20 is a fragmentary perspective view of the tree feeding mechanismremoved from the environment in which it is shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 21 is a section view taken along line 21-21 of FIG. 8;

FIG. 22 is a perspective view, partly cutaway, of a portion of the rearsection of the machine shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and illustrating themanner in which the chip receiving container may be mounted upon andremoved from the vehicle;

FIG. 23 (sheet 8) is a simplified schematic of a suitable hydraulicpower pack which may be carried within the head shown in FIG. 9;

FIG. 24 is a diagrammatic view, partly cutaway, showing the device ofFIGS. 1 and 2 and showing the axes, planes, directions and extent ofvehicle and machine component movements and their relationships; and

FIG. 25 is a diagrammatic perspective view, partly cutaway, showing thedevice of FIGS. 1 and 2 in operation in a typical forest area.

As will become apparent as the description proceeds, the machine of thepresent invention is symmetrical about a longitudinal center line.Accordingly, it has a right-hand side and left-hand side and, wheneverthe terms right-hand or left-hand" are used in the following descriptionthey should be taken to mean right-hand" or left-hand" with respect tothe portion of the machine when seen as in FIG. 2. Similarly terms suchas up," down," front" and rear all have reference to directionssuperimposed on FIG. 2.

OVERALL MACHINE CONFIGURATION The entire machine which is shown in FIGS.1 and 2 is constituted by, as was discussed in the introduction, alarge, mobile vehicle supporting a wood chip producing machine which maymove through a forest region and remove trees from their stumps, processthe tree to remove unwanted bark and branches and to reduce the treetrunk to chips which are then stored in a container carried by thevehicle.

The various components of the machine, both functional and structuralwill be separately described in greater detail with reference to thesucceeding sheets and figures of drawings accompanying this application.To begin with, however, a general discussion of the overall machine willsimplify the following description of the components and will enable therelationship between these components and the overall machine to be morereadily understood and appreciated.

Referring, therefore, to FIGS. 1 and 2 the machine can be seen togenerally comprise what may be termed a forward chassis sectionidentified by reference character 10 and a rear chassis sectionidentified by reference character 11. The front and rear chassissections l and 11 are secured together at a center joint or trunnionabout which the two chassis sections may be articulated about a verticalaxis, the plane of articulation being horizontal. Limited freedom isprovided for the front and rear chassis sections 10 and II to rollrelative to one another about a horizontal axis aligned generallylongitudinally of the vehicle but no freedom of movement is providedbetween chassis sections about the horizontal axis extendingtransversely of the vehicle. The details of the centerjoint constructionand the manner in which the vehicle may be articulated at this pointwill be described in greater detail with reference to FIGS. and 6. Forthe time being, how ever, it is sufficient to appreciate that thechassis sections and Il may be articulated with respect to one anotherto provide for vehicle steering and, as will be described in greaterdetail below, to provide for accurate vehicle advance during the treeprocessing operation.

Each chassis section 10 and 11 is supported by a pair of ground engagingwheels, wheels 12 and 13 being associated with the forward chassissection 10 and a pair of wheels, only one of which, 14, can be seen areassociated with the rear chassis section 11. The application of motivepower to the ground engaging wheels in a manner which will be describedin greater detail with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4 enables the vehicle tomove forwardly or rearwardly and the articulation of chassis l0 and 11with respect to one another provide for vehicle steering.

Each chassis section comprises a main chassis frame which, in general,is of roughly V-shape, the apex of the V being located adjacent thecenter joint axis of articulation and the two legs of the V terminatingin parallel portions adjacent each wheel station. Referring to FIG. 1,the chassis frame for the rear chassis section 11 is truncated at itsapex to provide for a central portion 15 which merges with a secondaryportion 16 which, in turn, terminates in portion 17 which is parallel toa corresponding portion on the other side of the vehicle, the twoportions 17 housing the wheel station and associated equipment whichwill be described in greater detail below. The forward chassis sectionis similar to the rear chassis section and comprises a truncated portion18, an angled portion 19 and a portion 20 which is parallel to acorresponding portion on the other side of the vehicle and which housesthe forward chassis wheel stations and equipment associated therewith.The forward chassis section carries, at the truncated portion 18, arearwardly extending housing 21 which houses the center joint trunnionand the actuating mechanism by means of which vehicle articulation isachieved.

Extending upwardly and inwardly from each chassis frame portion 20 offront chassis l0 and from each rear chassis portion 17 is an upwardlyextending frame member 22 from which there extends an inwardly slopingframe member 23 terminating in a central horizontal arch or bridgingmember joining corresponding structural members 23 and 22 on the otherside of the chassis section.

In the case of the forward chassis section 10, structural members 22 and23 and the horizontal bridging member (not shown) support a cab oroperator control center 24. A deck 25 provides a floor for the controlcenter 24 and this deck is supported, in part, by structural membersconstituting access stairs 26 and by a support pylon 27 carried by theforward chassis element l8. Suitable structural members depending fromthe frame members 22, 23 and their bridging member and incorporated inthe structure of the control center 24 will serve to rigidly mount andcarry this compartment in the position shown in FlGs. l and 2. As can beseen in the drawings, the control center is housed within walls 28 and29 and access to the control center is provided by door 30. Windows 31surrounding the control center enable the machine operators locatedtherein to maintain visual supervision over all functions of the machinein all directions.

Also associated with the front chassis section 10 are the tree grasping,severing and processing elements and while these will be discussed insubstantially greater detail below, it can now be seen that the verticalframe member 22 constitutes a column having a vertical axis about whichis mounted a primary arm 32. The primary arm is movable in a horizontalplane about the vertical axis of structural member 22 and carries, ascan be seen in FIG. 2, a debranching and debarking mechanism 33 whichsurrounds a central opening through which the butt end of a severed treemay be introduced into the processing apparatus carried within thehousing of the primary arm 32. The function of this apparatus housedwithin arm 32 is to, initially, remove unwanted branches and bark, feedthe tree downwardly and to reduce the tree to chips which will then beconveyed, as will be later described, into a container carried by therear chassis section 11 of the machine.

The primary arm 32 carries a secondary arm 36 which is mounted, firstfor movement in a horizontal plane about a vertical axis passing throughthe free end of arm 32 and, secondly, for rotation in a vertical planeabout a horizontal axis passing through and intersecting with the saidvertical axis in the free end of arm 32. The end of the secondary am 36adjacent primary arm 32 carries a portion of the mounting mechanism andmeans by the operation of which movement in the vertical plane can beachieved.

The free end of the arm 36 carries a head 38 which performs thefunctions of grasping a tree, severing it from its stump and, when movedto the appropriate position providing the initial or first-stage feed tointroduce the butt end of the severed tree through the debranching anddebarking mechanism 33 into the internal mechanism carried by theprimary arm 32.

FIG. 1 illustrates these functions. The left-hand head in FIG. 1 isshown in the act of grasping and severing a tree. Grasping arms aregripping a tree T between the arms and a base member while tree shearingmembers S have severed the tree from its stump. The right-hand headshown in FIG. 1 is in the act of introducing a severed tree T into thedebranching and debarking mechanism 33, the secondary arm 36 havingmoved from a position, perhaps similar to the position of the other armshown in F IG. 1 so as to move the tree, while maintaining it in avertical orientation from the position in which it grew to the positionin which the tree is shown in association with left-hand primary arm 32.

The tree grasping arms are mounted upon a sub-assembly of the head 38.This sub-assembly is a slide which is capable of vertical movementrelative to the head 38 so that when the tree is positioned above thedebranching and debarking mechanism 33, the slide may then be moved in avertically downward direction in order to introduce the butt end of thetree into the processing apparatus carried within the primary arm 32.Below the debarking and debranching mechanism 33 there is a main feedand guide roller mechanism which, when the tree has entered theapparatus a sufficient distance, will engage the tree and will take overfrom the slide arrangement carried by the head 38 so that the tree maythen be released by the head which may then return to a positionfunctionally similar to that of left-hand head in FIG. 1 so as to grasp,sever and lift a further tree for introduction into the processingapparatus of the primary arm 32.

The function of the processing apparatus carried within the primary arm32 is to reduce the tree trunk to chips which are then blown throughconduits into a container carried by the rear chassis l l of the machinein a manner which will be described in greater detail below.

Although the preceding description has not taken pains to specificallydistinguish between the primary arm 32, the secondary arm 36 and thehead 38 carried by one side of the machine and identical equipmentcarried by the other side of the machine, it will be readily apparentfrom a consideration of FIGS. 1 and 2 that the primary arm, secondaryarm and head of one side is duplicated by a primary arm, secondary armand head on the other side of the machine and it will equally beapparent that the primary arm, secondary arm and head of one side of themachine operates independently of and simultaneously with thecorresponding equipment carried by the other side of the machine. Forthis purpose, of course, the control center 24 will contain twooperators, each in charge of the supervision of the operation of theapparatus associated with one side of the vehicle.

Before leaving this general description of the machine illustrated inFIGS. 1 and 2, it might be well to discuss, by way of example, somephysical dimensions of the apparatus since some machine functions willbe better understood when considered in the proper context of totalvehicle size.

First of all, the machine illustrated is primarily intended foroperation in the southern pine regions of the United States.Accordingly, the machine disclosed, being designed especially foroperation in this area, will differ in some ways from a machineembodying the same invention but designed for operation in other areaswhere tree conditions, ground terrain and other factors may dictatecertain changes. For this reason, the following dimensional figuresshould be considered as illustrative or representative and should not beconstrued in any way as limiting.

As illustrated, it is contemplated that the vehicle of FIGS. 1 and 2will, including the pay load contained in container 35 have a grossvehicle weight of something of the order of 180,000 pounds. Thefore-and-aft distance between the axles of the front and rear chassiswill be of the order of 24 feet and the transverse distance betweenvertical structural members 22 of the chassis will also be 24 feet. Themaximum distance between heads 38 when they are extended in thetransverse direction to their greatest extend will be approximatelyfeet. The tire diameter is contemplated at 10 feet, ground clearance atabout 5 feet. The deck or floor of the control center 24 will be aboutl0 feet above ground and the level of the debarker-debrancher mechanismabove the ground will be approximately 12 feet.

ENGINE COMPARTMENT From these dimensions it can be seen that a vehicleof substantial size is contemplated and one which will be substantiallyimmune to the terrain obstructions which might render travel difficultfor vehicles of more conventional type and size.

The present invention contemplates the integration of subsystem modulesas will be apparent in the following description of such components asthe head 38, the secondary arm 36, the primary arm 32 and the enginecompartment or pod. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the invention provides anengine compartment in the nature of a pod 50 which may be removablyslung beneath the control center 24 carried by the forward chassissection

1. An integrated tree processing mechanism for reducing a severed treeinto wood chips comprising: a. a support structure defining a verticallyoriented process path for the tree to travel, b. a plurality of treeprocessing stations closely arranged to one another in stacked relationalong said vertical path and including i. a station for debarking anddebranching said tree, ii. a station for reducing the debarked tree intowood chips, iii. a station for guiding and driving the severed treethrough the debarking and chipping stations, said guiding stationincluding: a. frame members defining a guide path for said tree andextending both around said guide path normal to its longitudinal axisand lengthwise thereof, b. a first frame member supporting two pairs ofidler guide rollers, the pairs thereof being spaced lengthwise of theguide path and in alignment with each other to engage a tree at spacedpoints along its length, each roller of each pair being mounted withtheir rotational axis forming an angle of 90* with respect to oneanother, c. a second frame member supporting a pair of driven feedrollers spaced lengthwise of the guide path to engage the tree at spacedpoints along its length and to drive said tree along the path, each feedroller being disposed opposite each pair of idler rollers, d. means insaid second frame member for advancing the driven feed rollers normal tothe guide path and towards the idler guide rollers to continuouslyengage the tree as its diameter decreases throughout its length, e.motor means for driving said feed rollers, f. said feed rollers beingrockably mounted on the second frame member whereby they may accommodateirregularities in the linear extent of the tree.
 2. An integrated treeprocessing mechanism for reducing a severed tree into wood chipscomprising: a. a support structure defining a vertically orientedprocess path for the tree to travel, b. a plurality of tree processingstations closely arranged to one another in stacked relation along saidvertical path and including i. a station for debarking and debranchingsaid tree, ii. a station for reducing the debarked tree into wood chips,iii. a station for guiding and driving the severed tree through thedebarking and chipping stations, c. means for conveying chips from theprocessing stations to a collective area; and d. valve means associatedwith and downstream of the chipping station for diverting selectivechips away from the conveying means and said processor.
 3. The mechanismaccording to claim 2 wherein the valve means is responsive in operationto a minimum tree diameter passing through the guiding and drivingstation.
 4. The mechanism according to claim 1 and means for grasping,severing and transferring a tree into aligned relation with and into theprocess path, the guiding and driving station being adapted to receivethe tree from the transfer means.
 5. An integrated tree processingmechanism for reducing a severed tree into wood chips comprising: a.support structure defining a vertically oriented process path for thetree to travel, b. a plurality of tree processing stations closelyarranged to one another in stacked relation along said vertical path andincluding i. a station for debarking and debranching said tree, ii. astation for reducing the debarked tree into wood chips, iii. a stationfor guiding and driving the severed tree through the debarking andchipping stations, c. a rotatable annular member within the supportstructure disposed between a selected adjacent pair of said processingstations; and d. tree grasping, severing and transferring means securedto the annular member and rotatable therewith in a horizontal plane andthrough a limited arc about the processing path.
 6. Apparatus accordingto claim 2 including two sections in the second frame member, tHe feedroller advancing means comprising motor means in one section drivinglead screws extending therefrom, the feed rollers being mounted on theother section including captive nuts engaged by the lead screws formoving one section relative to the other.
 7. Apparatus according toclaim 1 wherein the feed roller motor means is adapted to increase theroller rotational speed in response to decreasing tree diameter and feedroller advance.
 8. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein the feedroller motor means is adapted to increase the roller rotational speed inresponse to decreasing tree diameter and feed roller advance.